STRENGTHENING TURKEY\'S POSITION IN THE WESTERN BALKANS: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENC

Jojić Stefan (Student master studija na Fakultetu političkih nauka Univerziteta u Beogradu),

Actions of a state are conditioned by the influence of multiple factors, which on different levels determine its foreign policy activity. This paper aims to present causes that led to an increased presence of Turkey in the Western Balkans in the period after the Cold War, and especially during the first decade of the 21st century. Also, it deals with the main consequences of that presence. Without the intention of implementing clear and rigid delimitations of different determinants influence, which is barely possible in the complex research field such as international relations, the author has divided Turkey’s political engagement in the Western Balkans into three different periods. Each of them, despite the consistency of the Turkish national interests, was “coloured” with various activities, which were performed in different international and regional political circumstances.

Keywords: Turkey, Western Balkans, Turkish national interests